Stat: Lionel Messi & Lamine Yamal make history with World Cup final starts

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19 July 2026

Barcelona stars past and present have on Sunday come together to make history on the international football stage.

This comes amid confirmation of both

Lionel Messi

and

Lamine Yamal

being afforded expected starting berths for this evening’s

World Cup

final.

The biggest fixture in world football is of course set to be played out in short order.

After putting France and England to the sword in their respective semi-final fixtures,

Spain

Argentina

will lock horns will the

trophy on the line.

The aforementioned Messi and Lamine, considered the past and future of football, have seen their names dominate the headlines in the buildup to a clash which will likely mark their one and only ever meeting on the pitch.

And as alluded to above, ahead of proceedings getting underway in New York, impending history has been revealed.

As per statisticians Opta:

‘Through

, it will be the first time in a

FIFA

final that there are starters on opposite sides separated in age by 20+ years (20 years, 19 days).’

–

Sunday, 19 July 2026

Conor Laird – GSFN

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